Football: CU Buffs' Jack Harris getting comfortable at left tackle

Senior has tough task of protecting QB's blindside

University of Colorado's Jack Harris during practice on Monday at the CU practice fields in Boulder. ]
(JEREMY PAPASSO)

Jack Harris wasn't supposed to be on left side of the Colorado offensive line this fall, but he's making the most of suddenly being the man responsible for protecting the quarterback's backside.

Harris was moved to left tackle in the offseason after playing on the right side at tackle and guard throughout his career. His former teammate, David Bakhtiari, left for the NFL in January a year earlier than expected, leaving a vacancy at the position Harris now mans.

Former Buff Alexander Lewis would have been the most likely replacement for Bakhtiari had he stayed in the program, but he chose to transfer to Nebraska in the spring shortly before being arrested and charged with assault for an off-campus incident.

That left coach Mike MacIntyre and offensive line coach Gary Bernardi with few options at left tackle. Either move Harris there and coach him through all the adjustments in technique and footwork and responsibilities or play a raw underclassmen and hope for the best.

"Jack's had a great camp," said Bernardi, who is in his 33rd season coaching offensive linemen at the college level. "I've been very, very pleased with him. He's done a great job, he's a good leader, he's an excellent technician. People forget about that. They think about everybody just mauling guys and all of that; he is a really good technician. I'm really happy with that part of it."

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Bernardi said Harris might not look like he has the quick feet and athleticism for left tackle but he has been surprised by both of those aspects of Harris' game since he started coaching him in the spring.

Harris logged the third most playing time among CU offensive linemen last fall at both right guard and tackle. He led the team in touchdown blocks and had his best game of the season late in the year against Washington when he graded out at 90 percent.

Harris' one concern is his weight. He is worried he might be losing too much of it after a spring and summer in strength coach Dave Forman's conditioning program and all the work of the first two weeks of fall camp. He is listed at 6-foot-7 and 295 pounds on the pre-camp roster and says he has been eating extra food and drinking shakes to keep his calories up.

Harris was named one of six team captains earlier this summer and Bernardi said Harris was among the first to claim a leadership role after the coaching change was made in the winter.

All of these developments are pointing toward Harris having a strong senior season and possibly continuing an impressive streak of CU sending left tackles to the NFL. The last three players to play left tackle in Boulder -- Tyler Polumbus, Nate Solder and Bakhtiari -- will all be on NFL rosters this fall and all will likely be starters for their respective teams.

Harris is well aware of those three men, having played with two of them.

"It's pretty cool," he said. "Hopefully I can follow in that footstep. They're all great guys and I have a standard to uphold. So hopefully I can do that."

With junior Daniel Munyer being out for much of training camp and coaches moving players around on the line, Harris was feeling late last week that the group still had plenty of ground to cover in terms of gelling and fine-tuning communication.

He isn't just talking about projected starters. He wants starters and their backups to feel comfortable playing together and being put in unusual situations in the middle of games. Kind of like the change he was asked to make in recent months.

"I just want to get all 10 of us on the same page," Harris said. "So when we all go out there, we know exactly what we're doing and we can execute it perfectly. I want the entire offense, but particularly the line, to be like that. I still feel like we have some work to do with communication and stuff, but that is my big goal.

"So we're not confused and we know where we're going. If we work together, we'll be OK."

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